MAPLE Catchers: Ariant Nights
by lwwee
Summary: Summary coming soon


MAPLE Catchers: Ariant Nights

Prelude – The Magatia Horror

The smoke was too much to bear.

I looked outside the window, nothing, nothing but a gray pitch of hazy view. I got off from my bed and off to the stairs. The clock stroked midnight. The sound of horror came out from the streets of Magatia, it came to my notice that people were trying to run away from the smoke, or even something worse. _I knew that the Black Magician's disciples were coming, somehow._

An old man got into the house and shut the door hurriedly behind his back. He locked the door up and let out a huge breath. "Leon! Leon!" He called out for me. It was grandpa.

"What….what… is it?" I answered with fear, appearing myself by taking steps down the stairs.

"There's no time left, let's just pack things up and leave this place!" Grandpa reached for a piece of cloth and laid it on the broken wooden table, placing everything he could in the middle of it.

"Pa….pa….pack things….. up? Where are we go….going?" I could only see my grandpa froze like a statue right after I asked curiously, as if he never thought of the very next thing that we should do.

"Come here." He took my hand and led me to his room. An ancient cabinet in front of us, I guess that could be older than grandpa himself. He mumbled something which I couldn't understand, a set of magic codes which seemed to encrypt the sets of locks located on the cabinet chest, and it opened itself. Grandpa took out something, which almost blinded our eyes by its exterior.

A cube-shaped stone figure with miniscule, ancient Magatian symbols on every surface. Some were glowing with blue, while the others didn't.

"This." Grandpa told me."This is one of Magatia's finest creations." He passed it to me to have a closer look at it. "I'm not sure what this is, but it's something that the Black Magician's disciples want it so badly. I have yet to find out why." Grandpa frowned.

Grandpa is one of the strongest magicians in Maple World. He pursued alchemy because that was his only life that he depended on. His knowledge of magic and skills was everyone else's desire. But in the scale of magic rating of my own, from one to ten, I don't even think that I even deserve a one or two.

"I want you to have it. Who knows, you might be my successor." Grandpa handed it right into my palms.

"Alcaster!" There were knocks on the door that interrupted our conversation, it almost gave my grandpa an unpleasant shock. Grandpa reached for the door, his hands shaking. He removed the lock and stepped backwards, the door was pushed wide open by someone familiar.

"Bedin!" Exclaimed grandpa. Grandpa was quite glad to see Bedin and gave him a hug, he was grandpa's student after all.

"The Black Magician's disciples are just around here! They are going to destroy Magatia in just minutes!" Bedin came to deliver the bad news.

Grandpa hesitated. He paused awhile, looking at me for a few times before giving us a reply. "I must protect Magatia from all of these, I can't leave now. As the president of Magatia, I have the power to stop them, but I hope that Leon, you will understand." I wondered if grandpa's magic is good enough to defeat them, they are too powerful and shouldn't be messed around with.

"Leon, you're reaching ten now. You should do what I did when I was young." He smiled. "There're so many things to see, and to learn, Magatia itself is never enough for you."

"What… should I…I…I do now?"

"Magatia needs me, and I can't go with you. You must travel alone. Head over south-west to Araint, and to the Ariant Station Platform before it's too late." He continued. "We'll meet later, I promise. You will have greater responsibility when the time comes. But now," I was holding the cube figure. "Here's the cursed rock, or you can just call it Sahel. It was named after the sands of Nihal Dessert, but powerful spells are registered into Sahel, that why it's called 'cursed'."

"Is it _my….._ responsibility? How am I supposed to….." My mind was in a huge thought. I'd never started anything, not even a journey of my own, I just followed everything that had planned for me all this while. In Magatia, everything is just plain monotonous, you just do the same old things every day.

"Don't worry. You'll do great, don't you?" Said grandpa, both hands caressing my face.

"But grandpa….." My eyes started to get watery, I couldn't hold it back and ended up crying out loud. Bedin was watching me, feeling helpless.

"My good boy….I always have faith in you. Take Sahel and escape. Take good care of it, is all I ask from you." Grandpa comforted me in every way he can. He rubbed off his tears too and started to demand. "Bedin, will you help Leon to get to Ariant?"

"I will….But after it is done, I will come back to fight against the Black Magician's disciples!" His throat shown anger that I'd never ever seen before, he was like being possessed.

* * *

I couldn't believe that all these were too sudden, I was left with this one and only decision. I felt a sudden loneliness coming from this world, as he played the parts of a mother and a father. And now, this was just something that I couldn't do anything about it.

My mind ran away with my thoughts, until I realized that Bedin was gripping my hand tightly, marching forward to find an escape route. We stopped at the Magatia's town hall, the finest architecture work of art, was build about 500 years ago. But ever since _that_ incident happened, the town hall was shut down, huge pieces of wood were nailed onto the doors and windows, so tight that I couldn't even take a peek through it. Now, the city hall is just a piece of history left, located in the center of Magatia.

Yes, _that_ _incident_, the Alcadno and the Zenumist. The Zenumist practices alchemy, preferring the old, medieval ways of life. The Alcadno is more on the technological side, producing robots and trying to be more advanced than that of Zenumist. Long before that, the power source of both the societies went missing, and they blamed each other for it. Ever since that, the two societies had never been in peace with each other, that's all I heard. The pieces just wouldn't fit into the right places anymore.

The Zenumist accused the Alcadno for being totally wrong, combination of life and machine is just against the law of nature. While the Alcadno bragged about themselves and teased the Zenumist for being old-minded, living in their ancestors' glorious past without making much an improvement. That was the reason why this town hall is nothing but a landmark which divides the people of Magatia into two.

"Are you okay stammer?" Bedin glanced back at me. I didn't reply him, all I needed was some time to catch my breath back before I could run again. Bedin looked at everything that surrounded us, the people were running all over the town, with the news of the Black Magician's disciples was all they could think of. They hid themselves, locked the doors up, or just staring at the sky, praying.

My grandpa is the president of the Magatia Alchemy Society, everyone respects him for who he is. He had that certain qualities of being fair and just, whether you're an Alcadno or a Zenumist. Although he tried his best to find peace between the two societies, but it just wouldn't work. My grandpa monitored both the societies through their work, and pressing the importance of alchemy.

Bedin, a Zenumist who is five years my senior. He's quite the short tempered one, and wouldn't think twice before doing anything at all. As a student of my grandpa's, he can be considered as one of bright ones, mastering his alchemy with ease. He has some issues with the Alcadno societies, just like anyone else from the Zenumist society would. For me, I'm with my grandpa, siding neither Alcadno nor Zenumist.

He rushed himself from the Zenumist's into the streets of Alcadno. Bedin was quick enough to get in his way.

It was Romeo, wearing his brown robe and his old leather shoes.

"I have to find Juliet!" He shouted as he tried to make himself past through Bedin. I could sense that Bedin wanted to reach for his fist anytime soon, but he knew that I was watching every move he made. "You better not do that, or else I'll kill you with my bare hands!" Bedin threatened. Romeo was part of the Zenumist society, but Juliet was from Alcadno's. Despite all the hatred and war happened between the societies, they were madly in love with each other. This made Bedin even furious, he tried to keep an eye on him, to ensure that Romeo will not sneak out of his room to meet up with Juliet.

"I have to find her….." But Romeo wasn't giving it up any sooner. Romeo was brighter than Bedin in some way. He was able to escape from the window, climbing up the rooftop, and even crawling through the drainage passageway just for Juliet, while Bedin was guarding outside his room.

"Just give up, you jerk!" Bedin hissed. "Who do you think you are, too stupid to risk just anything for love! You don't deserve it! By the way, what is love? You're just ten, how could you even know what love is! Let me tell you this, _love is blind_! That's not meant to be!" Romeo was the same age as I am, but we shared different thoughts.

"I have to find her, and I will find her!" I could remember Romeo's turquoise-green eyes filled with his concern towards Juliet. He tried to push Bedin's arm away as hard as he can.

_Boom!_ The town was shaking wildly like an Earthquake, and the three of us turned around to face that direction. An explosion occurred near the Alcadno association.

"Nooo!" Romeo's heart skipped a beat, watching the flames slowly swallowing the buildings of Alcadno society. While Bedin was in the state of shock too, Romeo pushed him away and ran towards the fire. _Juliet…Please God keep her safe._

"Romeo…..!" I shouted so loud, trying to reach for him before he went out of sight. Bedin grabbed my robe collar and halted me. "You can't keep something that must go…or too dumb to go."

* * *

The small, isolated town of Ariant was nothing as I expected, old and dirty. It was peaceful, _which even adds as a contrast for the neighbouring Magatia that was being attacked_. The streets filled with cats and kids playing around, half-naked. Bedin tried to get me a ticket, a flight from Ariant to Orbis of Ossyria.

"Good luck." Was all he said, shaking hands with me for the last time. "I'll be back in Magatia, for the sake of alchemy. Wish me luck."

I was checking my backpack for all the stuffs that I had: mesos, food, some books which should be helpful, and the most important, _Sahel_. I gave Bedin a light smile_. What will happen to Grandpa and Magatia? Will I able to come back again? What about the Black Magician's disciples? _I asked myself, fearing that this would be the last time of my life to be in Magatia.

Bedin was waving at me, Ariant Station Platform was getting further and further. _Will we be meeting each other in the future?_ I wondered. We had our last goodbyes and went our separate ways.


End file.
